shortly after my post, i went back to treating the area with cortisone cream. it relieved the flaky symptom but (once again) did not remove the red, glossy, shiny patch of skin. ive found this to be the case with the other topicals, such as neosporin.

the affected patch of skin has a unique texture compared to the rest of the head of my penis (during the times i am treating with topicals) - very smooth and glossy.

after a week of treating with cortisone and no improvement once again, i stopped. the patch actually improved after i stopped treatment, it became less red (dry, but with small amount flaking)...

then it just got too dry (with the skin under it red, smooth textured). after reading up on yeast infection posts and related information on the web i bought some vaginal cream (2%, lotramin stuff - 7 day treatment ointment). so far im on my second day, but with no improvement. once again, the flakiness is gone, but the soft smooth shiny glossy red patch of skin remains.

im close to making an appointment with the derm, if the yeast cream does not show any signs of improvement within a week. i just fear that it is something more serious, an STD of some sort.

sorry for such a long post, i would appreciate any other comments. thank you tommy for your posts as well.